Simon
Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They are well known for such songs as "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson" (from ''The Graduate'' Soundtrack), and "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and are often regarded among the best artists in the folk rock genre, if not any genre. They were also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, as well as having won several Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. History Before 'Simon & Garfunkel' Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel knew each other from an early age, and they performed together at their middle school in Queens. They wrote their first original song in high school, but it was never recorded. They were signed to their first record company, Big Records, in 1957 when they were just 15, and they recorded the single "Hey Schoolgirl" under the name Tom & Jerry. "Hey Schoolgirl" was released and became very popular on radio stations, and they recorded a few other songs as Tom & Jerry, but these did not do well, and they split up in 1958. They both continued to record solo under various labels and aliases. (See Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.) They regrouped in 1963 and started performing under the name Kane & Garr at Gerde's Folk City, a club in Greenwich where they performed three new songs, including "The Sound of Silence". They gained the attention of Columbia Records producer Tom Wilson, and they were soon signed to the company. Studio Years (1964-1970) Now signed to Columbia Records, they adopted the name Simon & Garfunkel for the first time and recorded their first full album, [[Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.|''Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.]], which was released in 1964, but it was a commercial failure, and Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel once again split up. Art Garfunkel remained in the United States while Paul Simon moved to London where he recorded his solo début ''The Paul Simon Songbook. Meanwhile, a remix of "The Sound of Silence" made by their Columbia Records producer which featured studio musicians on electric overdubs was gaining traction on the east coast of the United States, and when Simon & Garfunkel became aware of this, they quickly reunited to record another album. ''Sounds of Silence'' was released in January 1966, and "I Am a Rock" and "Homeward Bound" were both released as singles from this album, the latter of which only appeared on the British release. The album was preceded by an early single release of "The Sound of Silence". ''Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme'' was recorded throughout 1966, and released in October, and it was followed by the releases of "A Hazy Shade of Winter", "At The Zoo", and "Fakin' It" as stand-alone singles around this time. In 1967, film director Mike Nichols who was filming the movie The Graduate at the time had become fascinated with Simon & Garfunkel's music and reached out to Columbia Records hoping to license some Simon & Garfunkel music for his film. Simon & Garfunkel and Columbia chairman Clive Davis agreed, so Paul Simon wrote two new songs to be used in the soundtrack: "Punky's Dilemma" and "Overs", but both of these were rejected, so a third song became what is now "Mrs. Robinson". Simon & Garfunkel released their fourth album, ''Bookends'' in early 1968 and it quickly climbed to the top of the charts, reaching #1. "Mrs. Robinson" was released as the lead single and was also a major hit. Art Garfunkel began pursuing an acting career in 1969 and took 8 months in the filming of Catch-22, so as soon as filming was complete, Simon & Garfunkel quickly reunited and recorded what would be their final album, ''Bridge Over Troubled Water''. It was released in January 1970 and became the best-selling album of all time at the time until it was beaten a month later by Carole King's Tapestry. They went on one final tour in England before going their separate ways in 1970, but they have gotten back together for short periods on numerous occasions after this. After Breakup The first time Simon & Garfunkel got back together after their breakup in 1970 was in 1972 for a benefit concert for presidential candidate George McGovern in Madison Square Garden. They later met up in 1975 and recorded the song "My Little Town", which was released as a single as well as appearing on Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years and Garfunkel's Breakaway. Paul Simon also joined Art Garfunkel and James Taylor in the recording of a cover of Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World" in 1977, which was released as a single and featured on Garfunkel's Watermark album. Simon & Garfunkel's most famous convergence though, was for the 1981 free concert in Central Park attracted over 500,000 people, at that time the highest concert attendance in history, and the concert yielded the live album ''The Concert in Central Park''. They proceeded to go on a world tour in 1982. They performed three songs when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, and they went went on an international tour in 1993. They were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. They were selected for the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy Awards Ceremony in 2003, where they performed "The Sound of Silence", and they followed this up with the Old Friends Tour, ending in a free concert in front of the Colosseum that beat even their Concert in Central Park in attendance numbers. The recording of this tour, ''Old Friends: Live on Stage'', was released as a live album. Simon & Garfunkel performed together three times in 2009; the first was in February when Art Garfunkel joined Simon for the first of several back-to-back concerts at Beacon Theatre in New York, then they went on a reunion tour of Australia and Asia in May, and they performed five songs at ''The 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concerts'' in October. They performed together again at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2010, but Art Garfunkel was experiencing vocal problems at the time, so there was no follow-up tour. He has fully recovered since. Paul Simon announced his retirement in 2018, making another Simon & Garfunkel get-together unlikely. Discography Songs In alphabetical order: #''' * [[7 O' Clock News/Silent Night|'''7 O' Clock News/Silent Night]] A''' * [[A Church is Burning|'''A Church is Burning]] * [[A Hazy Shade of Winter|'A Hazy Shade of Winter']] * [[America (Simon & Garfunkel Song)|'America']] * [[A Most Peculiar Man|'A Most Peculiar Man']] * [[Anji|'Anji']] * [[A Poem on the Underground Wall|'A Poem on the Underground Wall']] * [[April Come She Will|'April Come She Will']] * [[A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission)|'A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission)']] * [[At The Zoo|'At The Zoo']] B''' * [[Baby Driver|'''Baby Driver]] * [[Barbriallen|'Barbriallen']] * [[Benedictus|'Benedictus']] * [[Bleecker Street|'Bleecker Street']] * [[Blessed (Simon & Garfunkel Song)|'Blessed']] * [[Blues Run the Game|'Blues Run the Game']] * [[Bookends Theme|'Bookends Theme']] * [[Bridge Over Troubled Water (Song)|'Bridge Over Troubled Water']] * [[Bye Bye Love (Everly Brothers)|'Bye Bye Love']] C''' * [[Cecilia|'''Cecilia]] * [[Citizen of the Planet|'Citizen of the Planet']] * [[Cloudy (Simon & Garfunkel Song)|'Cloudy']] E''' * [[El Cóndor Pasa|'''El Cóndor Pasa (If I Could)]] F''' * [[Fakin' It (Simon & Garfunkel Song)|'''Fakin' It]] * [[Feuilles-O|'Feuilles-O']] * [[Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall|'Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall']] * [[For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her|'For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her']] G''' * [[Go Tell It On the Mountain|'''Go Tell It On the Mountain]] H''' * [[He Was My Brother|'''He Was My Brother]] * [[Homeward Bound|'Homeward Bound']] I''' * [[I Am a Rock|'''I Am a Rock]] K''' * [[Kathy's Song|'''Kathy's Song]] * [[Keep The Customer Satisfied|'Keep The Customer Satisfied']] L''' * [[Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream|'''Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream]] * [[Leaves That Are Green|'Leaves That Are Green']] M''' * [[Mrs. Robinson|'''Mrs. Robinson]] * [[My Little Town|'My Little Town']] O''' * [[Old Friends (Song)|'''Old Friends]] * [[Overs|'Overs']] P''' * [[Patterns |'''Patterns]] * [[Peggy-O|'Peggy-O']] * [[Punky's Dilemma|'Punky's Dilemma']] R''' * [[Red Rubber Ball|'''Red Rubber Ball]] * [[Richard Cory|'Richard Cory']] * [[Rose of Aberdeen|'Rose of Aberdeen']] * [[Roving Gambler|'Roving Gambler']] S''' * [[Save the Life of My Child|'''Save the Life of My Child]] * [[Scarborough Fair/Canticle|'Scarborough Fair/Canticle']] * [[So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright|'So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright']] * [[Somewhere They Can't Find Me|'Somewhere They Can't Find Me']] * [[Song for the Asking|'Song for the Asking']] * [[Sparrow (Simon & Garfunkel Song)|'Sparrow']] The * [[The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)|'The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)']] * [[The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine|'The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine']] * [[The Boxer|'The Boxer']] * [[The Dangling Conversation|'The Dangling Conversation']] * [[The Only Living Boy in New York|'The Only Living Boy in New York']] * [[The Sound of Silence|'The Sound of Silence']] * [[The Sun is Burning|'The Sun is Burning']] * [[The Times They Are A-Changin'|'The Times They Are A-Changin]] '''V' * [[Voices of Old People|'Voices of Old People']] W''' * [[Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. (Song)|'''Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.]] * [[We've Got A Groovey Thing Goin'|'We've Got A Groovey Thing Goin]] * [[Why Don't You Write Me|'Why Don't You Write Me']] '''Y' * [[You Can Tell the World|'You Can Tell the World']] * [[You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies|'You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies']] By album: Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. * [[You Can Tell the World|'You Can Tell the World']] * [[Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream|'Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream']] * [[Bleecker Street|'Bleecker Street']] * [[Sparrow (Simon & Garfunkel Song)|'Sparrow']] * [[Benedictus|'Benedictus']] * [[The Sound of Silence|'The Sounds of Silence']] * [[He Was My Brother|'He Was My Brother']] * [[Peggy-O|'Peggy-O']] * [[Go Tell It On the Mountain|'Go Tell It On the Mountain']] * [[The Sun is Burning|'The Sun is Burning']] * [[The Times They Are A-Changin'|'The Times They Are A-Changin]] * [[Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. (Song)|'Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.]] ''Sounds of Silence'' * [[The Sound of Silence|'''The Sounds of Silence]] * [[Leaves That Are Green|'Leaves That Are Green']] * [[Blessed (Simon & Garfunkel Song)|'Blessed']] * [[Kathy's Song|'Kathy's Song']] * [[Somewhere They Can't Find Me|'Somewhere They Can't Find Me']] * [[Anji|'Anji']] * [[Richard Cory|'Richard Cory']] * [[A Most Peculiar Man|'A Most Peculiar Man']] * [[April Come She Will|'April Come She Will']] * [[We've Got A Groovey Thing Goin'|'We've Got A Groovey Thing Goin]] * [[I Am a Rock|'I Am a Rock']] 'Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme' * [[Scarborough Fair/Canticle|'Scarborough Fair/Canticle']] * [[Patterns |'Patterns']] * [[Cloudy (Simon & Garfunkel Song)|'Cloudy']] * [[Homeward Bound|'Homeward Bound']] * [[The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine|'The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine']] * [[The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)|'The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)]] * [[The Dangling Conversation|'''The Dangling Conversation]] * [[Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall|'Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall']] * [[A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission)|'A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission)']] * [[For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her|'For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her']] * [[A Poem on the Underground Wall|'A Poem on the Underground Wall']] * [[7 O' Clock News/Silent Night|'7 O' Clock News/Silent Night']] Bookends * [[Bookends Theme|'Bookends Theme']]' (instrumental)' * [[Save the Life of My Child|'Save the Life of My Child']] * [[America (Simon & Garfunkel Song)|'America']] * [[Overs|'Overs']] * [[Voices of Old People|'Voices of Old People']] * [[Old Friends (Song)|'Old Friends']] * [[Bookends Theme|'Bookends Theme']] * [[Fakin' It (Simon & Garfunkel Song)|'Fakin' It']] * [[Punky's Dilemma|'Punky's Dilemma']] * [[Mrs. Robinson|'Mrs. Robinson']] * [[A Hazy Shade of Winter|'A Hazy Shade of Winter']] * [[At The Zoo|'At The Zoo']] Bridge Over Troubled Water * [[Bridge Over Troubled Water (Song)|'Bridge Over Troubled Water']] * [[El Cóndor Pasa|'El Condor Pasa']] * [[Cecilia|'Cecilia']] * [[Keep The Customer Satisfied|'Keep The Customer Satisfied']] * [[So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright|'So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright']] * [[The Boxer|'The Boxer']] * [[Baby Driver|'Baby Driver']] * [[The Only Living Boy in New York|'The Only Living Boy in New York']] * [[Why Don't You Write Me|'Why Don't You Write Me']] * [[Bye Bye Love (Everly Brothers)|'Bye Bye Love']] * [[Song for the Asking|'Song for the Asking']] Trivia * As a practical joke, Simon & Garfunkel once secretly recorded a lecture given to them by Columbia Records chairman Clive Davis. Related Artists * Paul Simon * Art Garfunkel * Cat Stevens * Jim Croce * Gordon Lightfoot * Don McLean Category:Duos Category:Folk Rock Artists Category:Folk Duos Category:Folk Artists Category:Folk Groups